The Tampa, Fla., Council hosted
the fourth annual picnic for its
sponsored NSCC unit, the Tampa
Bay Division, Aug. 16 at Lowery
Park in Tampa.

Division Sea Cadets and Navy
League Cadet Corps (NLCC)
cadets and their families enjoyed a
cookout and some special recognition by the council. Lance Maartens was given the top NLCC cadet
award at the event, and Ryan
Lucht was named the top Sea
Cadet, according to National Director Skip Witunski.

Council President Chris Paddock
presented the division’s commander,
Lt. j.g. Peter Finneran (NSCC), with
a quarterly support check, and presented the division with the “Navy
League of the United States: Civilians
Supporting the Sea Services … For
More Than a Century” history book
along with the promise to start a
library for the unit.

The Tampa Bay Division, which
is celebrating its 25th anniversary
this year and is the oldest unit in
Florida, has been an outstanding
unit during the past year, Witunski
said. The division’s Web site —
www.tampabayseacadets.com —
was the NSCC site of the month in
August and a unit cadet received a
letter of acceptance to the U.S.
Naval Academy earlier this year.

sive training in 2008, as well. The
division drills at the Naval Operations Support Center at MacDill Air
Force Base, and does line handling
for the Merchant Marine museum
vessel, American Victory.

Gary, Eagle Visit

Navy Days LA

Navy Days LA 2008 welcomed two
dramatically different ships to the
Port of Los Angeles to host tours
and participate in a variety of
events in July and August.

The Oliver Perry-class frigate USS
Gary traveled up from its homeport
in San Diego for the July 4 weekend.
Two hundred Navy Leaguers, VIPs
and Sea Cadets were able to experience a day at sea aboard Gary as it
made the journey. While in Los
Angeles, 2,000 members of the public toured the ship, with another
1,000 “Kids in Uniform” (Cub/Boy/
Girl/Explorer Scouts and Sea Cadets)
coming aboard July 5, according to
Grant W. Ivey, Greater Los Angeles
Area president.

Navy Days LA partnered with the
Cabrillo Beach Boosters to host a July
4 spectacular for 40,000 on Cabrillo
Beach in San Pedro. The event
included a beach assault demonstration by two Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicles from I Marine
Expeditionary Force, a sea-air rescue
demonstration by Coast Guard Air
Station Los Angeles and a C- 17 flyover by March Air Reserve Base.

Gary Sailors were able to visit
Universal City and the Ronald
Reagan Library and attend a Los
Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball game, as well as take part in “A
Night in Hermosa Beach,” several
receptions and a Burger Bash at the
Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club that
raised money for ship morale, welfare and recreation funds.

In early August, the Coast Guard’s
three-masted sailing barque Eagle
sailed to Los Angeles to take part in
the Tall Ships Festival. During its
stay, the ship hosted a Navy League
reception and tour. The evening
included a visit to Terminal Island for
a tour of Coast Guard coastal buoy
tender George Cobb, a presentation
on the Coast Guard’s small craft
operations, and a briefing on the
Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles/
Long Beach and the Integrated Support and Command Center, Ivey said.

Navy Days LA was established
by the Navy League for the purpose of hosting local port visits for
the benefit of Pacific Southwest
Region councils and education of
the public about the sea services
and Sea Cadets.